Air Ambulance appoints new Chair of Trustees

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is delighted to announce the appointment of Gillian Bryce as their new Chair of Trustees.

Gillian has been a member of the Board of Trustees for nearly four years and took over the reins from Roger Morgan who officially retired after nine years as a Trustee and the past three years as Chairman.

Gillian graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1980 and became a fellow the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh four years later. She was appointed as a Consultant in Accident and Emergency Medicine at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton in 1992 and was Medical Director of the South Western Ambulance Service between 1994 and 2009. Gillian has been involved at a national level in training and guidelines for Paramedics and has been interested and involved in pre-hospital medicine throughout her career.

Roger commented: “The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance goes from strength to strength. The last 18 months has seen a number of projects come to fruition with a successful extension to operating hours, the strengthening of our clinical team, the carriage of blood products and of course the arrival of ‘Pegasus’ - our amazing new helicopter. My nine years as a Trustee has now come to an end and it has been an amazing journey. It has been a joy to work with everyone associated with the service and I feel very proud that we have been able to deliver so many key projects in a relatively short timescale. Thank you to everybody who continues to contribute to this amazing charity; none of it would be possible without you!”

Bill Sivewright, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Chief Executive Officer said: “We are fortunate to have a Board of Trustees with so much enthusiasm, professional experience and knowledge and from a variety of sectors; a key element when you are providing a service such as ours. Our sincere thanks go to Roger for his dedication and commitment over the years. Gillian has already served very successfully as a Trustee for the Charity for nearly four years where her clinical expertise has been invaluable in helping the Board develop its strategic vision.

Gillian commented: “I consider myself honoured by this appointment and would like to add my thanks to Roger Morgan who will be a hard act to follow. I look forward to playing a greater role for the Charity over the next few years and have no doubts that we will continue to provide high quality critical care to the people of Dorset and Somerset. I consider our clinical teams to be amongst the best in the country. This cannot be done without the support of everyone else involved and it is a privilege to contribute to the service.

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Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) is a registered charity, established to provide relief from sickness and injury for the people of Dorset and Somerset, by the provision of an air ambulance.

I’m supporting DSAA as they receive no direct funding from the Government or the National Lottery and rely on the generosity of the public for support. Their operational costs are over £3.5 million a year and the approximate cost per mission is £3,000.